Alexander Calder’s suspended mobiles of articulated wire and sheet metal reconfigure themselves constantly under the gentle influence of air currents. In 1936, Herbert Matter captured the changing nature of a mobile in still photography by using the then-new technology of stroboscopic lighting. In this exposure of a few seconds’ duration, over one hundred regularly timed pulses of light map the movements of eight metal discs. Look outside the crop marks on the print to see how Matter achieved an illusion of bright, planet-like bodies floating in infinite black space. Adopting a high vantage point, he looked down at the mobile, which hung above a floor covered in bolts of dark fabric.
Herbert Matter, Alexander Calder suspended mobile in motion, 1936. Gelatin silver print inscribed in white ink. Purchased as the gift of Richard and Ronnie Grosbard, 2016.162.